“Beloved mother, father. My dear brother Roberto. Please stay well and healthy.”

Her starlight-like hair fluttered in the blowing wind.

Dressed in shabby clothes with her hands sealed with white cloth, she greeted her family.

“My child, my child. Lena, my daughter……”

Lena, that was her name.

Lena’s mother finally burst into tears. Her father wrapped his arms around her mother’s shoulders, and her brother Roberto approached her.

“Sister……”

Roberto was also whimpering. Lena put her arms around her brother’s back and embraced him.

“Don’t cry. Now you can eat lots of sausages that you like.”

“But…!”

As Roberto was about to say something while shedding tears, the village representative standing in front interrupted him anxiously.

“If we’re late, we’ll all die……”

“But how… my daughter is going to die! What father in this world could easily send his daughter away!”

Her father finally showed tears.

Lena was happy.

How fortunate she was to have a family that mourned her end like this.

Being born and raised in such a harmonious home was truly a great blessing.

Lena approached her crying mother and spoke gently.

“I’m going to die soon anyway. You know that. I have a terminal illness.”

Lena smiled sadly.

Her father hugged her tightly and said.

“But illness can be cured! Money, if only we had money…!”

Yes. If they had money, there might be a way for Lena to live.

But she was wearing shabby clothes even as she went to die.

Lena knew painfully well how poor their family was. And that there was no money to cure her illness.

Lena gently shook her head.

“If my sacrifice keeps the village safe, and Roberto can eat delicious food and grow up healthy, then I’m okay with it.”

What beautiful filial piety.

What noble spirit of sacrifice.

The surroundings instantly became a sea of tears. The villagers came out and removed their hats to pay respect.

Among those people, the village representative urged.

“Um… we really must go now. If we don’t hurry, our village……”

Lena bowed her head to the village head in apology.

“I’ll really go now. Father, Mother. Please don’t follow, it’s dangerous. Roberto, now it’s just you. You must grow up healthy and protect our parents.”

“Sis… waaah!”

Roberto finally collapsed to the ground and began to wail.

“Nooooo. Don’t gooooo. Sister, don’t gooooo. Don’t dieeee.”

Her parents were startled by the sight of Roberto crying so hard.

“This child, this child……”

But only for a moment, Roberto slowly stopped crying with his father’s patting. Lena had already followed the village representative.

To the place where she would die…

Lena felt her feet as heavy as a thousand pounds. It was natural. She was now going to die.

From some day, monsters appeared in the forest above the Northern Duchy where she lived.

They were creatures too horrific to be called beasts. They ate everything in sight and killed until they were full.

‘If the Duke hadn’t been here, our village would probably……’

Her village was relatively safe because it was within the Northern Duchy.

The Northern Duke was rumored to have gone mad one day and killed all the servants in the castle. However, public opinion wasn’t bad. That’s because he personally led the extermination of monsters.

Unfortunately, the Northern Duke was currently away. He had organized an expedition force and left for the center of the forest.

But just three days ago, monsters attacked the village. The monsters were becoming smarter by the day. They deliberately caused a disturbance to lure out the extermination force, then attacked the village when the force was absent.

The villagers racked their brains to survive.

Since the monsters disappeared when they were full, the village would be safe if they just filled the monsters’ stomachs. Rather than many dying from a sudden attack, they decided to designate someone as food for the monsters.

That food was Lena, the eldest daughter of a poor family who had received a terminal diagnosis.

Since it was a life that wouldn’t last long anyway, the village representative came with money asking her to use it for the village. It was enough money to live on without working for two whole months.

He promised to take care of Lena’s family with all sincerity after losing their hero.

Her family naturally went into an uproar.

They shouted for him to leave immediately, even bringing out a shotgun.

Lena saw her father so fiercely angry for the first time.

Her father had always been indifferent to her. She thought he didn’t care about what she did and found her bothersome. But learning that wasn’t true made Lena happy for the first time in a long while.

Her mother too had always paid more attention to her brother Roberto than to her. So she thought her mother didn’t love her much.

But that was her misunderstanding.

On the day the village representative came, Lena went to sleep with her mother for the first time in a long while. Lena was truly happy at that moment.

After much deliberation, Lena made her decision. She would become the sacrifice.

Her family worked from early morning until late at night and still worried about tomorrow’s breakfast. That’s how poor they were.

To make matters worse, Lena had an incurable disease. Unable to work, she barely managed her meals with rice porridge each day. A patient who couldn’t provide labor and only consumed food was the worst family member.

When her family heard Lena’s decision, they went wild saying it was absolutely unacceptable. That made Lena truly happy. She thought about how much love she was receiving.

All this time, her belief that they were indifferent to her and loved her brother more was just her misunderstanding.

For a moment, a look of relief flashed across the faces of her frantically protesting family.

It couldn’t be helped.

If she became the sacrifice, they wouldn’t have to worry about tomorrow’s breakfast. They could properly feed Roberto, who was in his growth period. They could also taste the sweetness of sleeping in late, which they had never experienced before.

Lena’s death was a breakthrough for her family. Lena knew this. So she didn’t mind seeing such expressions.

It was just the instinct of those wanting to live. Regardless of their love for her.

‘I’m being loved this much.’

Finally, Lena was blindfolded and tied to a pillar. She thought it looked like a gallows.

Animal blood was sprinkled at her feet to lure the monster. It was fishy and disgusting. Meat that Lena couldn’t even dream of for ten years was also scattered on the ground.

All to lure the monster.

All to kill Lena.

The wind blew from behind. Voices also came with the wind.

Lena found her family’s voices among the people murmuring behind the barrier.

‘I told them not to come… really, what can I do.’

Her family was worried about her.

Her family loved her.

Lena could now die happily. She quietly took a deep breath and closed her eyes. All that remained was waiting.

That’s when it happened.

“This isn’t what we agreed on! You said you’d give 15 more gold coins if we sold the girl on the day!”

“So I added more, but then you pointed a shotgun at me. Without any warning! So I have to deduct for my life compensation.”

“What?! You have to show that much there! No matter how stupid that girl is!”

“Sigh, honey. Calm down. Then give us at least 10 gold coins. We did sell her on the day. We need to live too. Losing her means one less worker.”

“That’s right, Representative. Give us 10. What parents would readily give up their child? When everyone else is protecting theirs, only we sold our daughter.”

‘What… is this?’

Lena’s eyes flew open beneath her blindfold. Her mind refused to understand.

Giggle giggle giggle giggle.

A familiar laughter was heard. It was Roberto. He seemed to have come with his friends.

Her first worry was that the sight of her death would be too cruel for young children.

“It’s really fortunate that sister is so stupid.”

“You were crying so hard earlier.”

“So what? I had to show that much so she wouldn’t realize until she died, right?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“Yeah. She was dying in bed anyway, so what difference does it make how she dies? It’s good that she can at least give money to the family she loved so dearly before she goes. Dying in bed would be a truly worthless death.”

‘What… what is this?’

Different from the promise? Selling on the day? Readily giving up? Fortunate that she’s stupid?

Lena couldn’t understand. She couldn’t comprehend what she was hearing.

No, she had already realized.

‘I was deceived.’

‘I was deceived by everyone.’

She had fallen for a scheme orchestrated by the villagers.

Her parents had already agreed to sell her for money, and they were acting.

The look of relief when she said she would die was joy that the words came directly from her mouth.

Her brother who wailed before her thoroughly insulted her.

Her brother must have known from the beginning. That’s why her parents were so surprised when Roberto burst into tears.

‘It’s unfair, so unfair. This can’t be. How could they do this to me… They can’t do this to me.’

Tears soaked her blindfold.

How had she lived all this time?

How much had she sacrificed for her family?

How many things had she given up while living?

And yet this death was all she got in return. This couldn’t be.

Having finally realized everything, Lena struggled to break free, but her tightly bound body wouldn’t budge.

Thud! Boom!

At that moment, heavy, powerful footsteps were heard from far away. Silence fell over the previously noisy surroundings. All the terrible sounds disappeared.

Someone shouted.

“Monster!! The monster has appeared!!!”

The villagers scattered in panic. To survive.

While Lena was tied up to die, they fled so freely.

She couldn’t breathe. Only now, with death right before her, did she understand everything. It was so unfair.

She couldn’t die like this. She couldn’t die so miserably. The monster’s footsteps grew closer. Lena wailed.

“No!! I don’t want to die!!! Save me!!! Someone!!! Someone please save me!!!”

As if mocking her desperate cries, the monster began charging more fiercely.

Lena could instinctively tell. It was now very close.

Though she didn’t know what it looked like, she could easily imagine the monster charging with its mouth wide open to swallow her in one bite.

Her whole body trembled like an aspen leaf.

“I, I don’t want to die… Why do I have to die… Please save me!!!”

At that moment, a deafening roar was heard. The monster was truly close now. The foul smell, the revoltingly painful odor told her so.

Lena felt nauseous.

“Sob… sob……”

She always used to look for her family whenever she cried.

Whimpering ‘Mom,’ and shedding tears calling ‘Dad.’

Who should she call for now as she cries?

Lena squeezed her eyes shut beneath the blindfold.

Now she would die. The breath touching her face, that terrible smell seemed to tell her so.

Ridiculously, what came to mind in the moment of death was the image of her family smiling brightly at her.

That’s when it happened.